Why Management Skills Training Is Vital for BPO Staff

Today business organizations greatly rely on outsourced solutions. This is because of the need for improving efficiency in customer service, improving employee productivity, reducing costs and optimizing business processes. On the part of BPO organizations, it is vital to recognize and act on the need for skills development especially for front line staff so that they serve consumers more effectively. In fact, this is what the leaders in this industry are focusing on. The drive now is to hire young, energetic, and forward-looking managers who can add value to business process outsourcing and push it forward.

It is important to provide excellent training to BPO staff to ensure that clients receive the best services while the BPO organization continues to grow and flourish. Many business process outsourcing firms are implementing training programs for supervisors and mid-managers to improve efficiency and maintain strong employee morale. Executive skills development to ensure improved customer experience has become a priority for many BPO service providers.

At present, there are a large number of outsourcing organizations and professionals at the top levels in these firms are reaching their retirement age or mid-career positions. If efficient people are to be brought to these positions, it is essential that the proper talent is identified and molded so that the organization remains competitive in the long run.

Training is important in any organization, and it is this that distinguishes a high-performance organization from a low-performance one. Apart from building the knowledge and skills of existing employees, training brings other advantages also.

Higher retention: When your employees know that you believe in and are investing in their personal growth, they are more likely to stay in your organization.

Better output: With a lower turnover rate, your workforce will be more motivated, enthusiastic, and productive. Their new knowledge and skills will be seen in everything they do.

Improved recruiting: For many candidates looking for a job, training is as important as the compensation package. If your organization is known to provide training for employees, you stand a better chance of recruiting better talent and people with the right attitude.

Staff with a caliber for leadership must be identified and provided skills development training that will enable them to understand all aspects of the organization’s culture, learn best practices in outsourcing, and providing enhanced customer experience. This will help in pro-actively ensuring long-term executive development.

The BPO industry that was a $7 billion industry in 2006 is currently estimated at around $120 billion, which speaks volumes about its growth prospects. It is estimated that the overall worldwide BPO market will cross $400 billion by the year 2020. Businesses worldwide are increasingly focusing on improving their offerings while ensuring that their backend tasks are taken care of by professional outsourced solutions providers. Access to new technology, ensuring risk management and compliance, and reducing operating cost would be the principal market drivers for an organization that chooses to outsource. While selecting a back office outsourcing service, business organizations will ensure that the service provider has a proven track record, guaranteed service level required, flexible contracting, previous experience and grade of specialisation. BPOs on their part will have to focus on ways to boost their development and retention strategies, ensuring that this is done across the organization and not at the front-end alone. To ensure the outsourcing company’s long term commercial success and viability, enhancing the leadership skills of young executives is vital. This will benefit both the organization’s internal operations and their clients.